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Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

Guadalcanal Case Study PacketThose who fought across the Pacifi c had to contend with staggering heat, disease, lack of sleep, food short-

ages, and a battle-hardened enemy who made each advance diffi cult and costly. You will read fi rsthand

accounts of the struggles that men, only a few years older than you are, had to endure to ensure victory. Be

sure to answer the questions below in full sentences. If you do not know what a word means, please ask.

Drawing, Howard Brodie, Litter bearers on a jungle trail at the front, 1942Library of Congress (2004661732)

1. What is happening in this image?

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Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

2. What are some of the risks involved with being a litter bearer?

3. Why are some of the litter bearers armed and others are not?

Drawing, Howard Brodie, Litter bearers on a jungle trail at the front, 1942 cont.Library of Congress (2004661732)

ABMCEDUCATION.ORG American Battle Monuments Commission | National Cemetery Administration | National History Day | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

Pete Oleson, “Letter From Guadalcanal,” 1942The National World War II Museum

1. After reading the letter, what are some of the hardships Pete and his friends faced?

2. Pete said, “Sometimes I wish every fellow I knew could spend just one day and one terrifying night out here with us.” After reading his letter, how do you think you would do feel about those back home not fighting? How do you think you would do at Guadalcanal?

3. Why do you think Pete would not want to know that 564 people did not show up for work in New Orleans? How would you react to this news?

ABMCEDUCATION.ORG American Battle Monuments Commission | National Cemetery Administration | National History Day | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

ABMCEDUCATION.ORG American Battle Monuments Commission | National Cemetery Administration | National History Day | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

Diary entry from Japanese soldier, November 24, 1943Records of the War Department General and Special StaffsNational Archives and Records Administration (Record Group 165)

November 24, 1943

“The whereabouts of each platoon leader is unknown. We are surrounded by tanks but will stick it out to the finish.

. . . We did not care about the fire from the machine guns and the guns on the tanks. . . .We're still alive today. We

know that we are to die so therefore we are the second suicide unit and plan to fight to the beautiful finish.”

1. What do you think the soldier meant by saying “the beautiful finish”?

2. After reading this entry, what do you think the mindset of this soldier was when it came to war? Do you think most Japanese soldiers felt this way? Do you think the Americans fighting them felt this way?

3. As a commander, you would likely be aware of the unwillingness of the Japanese to surrender. How would you prepare your men to go into combat? Would you tell them about Japanese suicide attacks?

ABMCEDUCATION.ORGAmerican Battle Monuments Commission | National Cemetery Administration | National History Day | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

Drawing, Howard Brodie, The stench of dead Japs was nauseating - Inf. on the road to Kokumbona - Guadalcanal - sketched between air alarms, 1943Library of Congress (2004661737)

1. What can you guess about the living conditions on Guadalcanal from this image?

ABMCEDUCATION.ORG American Battle Monuments Commission | National Cemetery Administration | National History Day | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

2. Why do you think the American soldiers would walk past a dead Japanese soldier without burying him?

Drawing, Howard Brodie, The stench of dead Japs was nauseating - Inf. on the road to Kokumbona - Guadalcanal - sketched between air alarms, 1943 cont.Library of Congress (2004661737)

ABMCEDUCATION.ORG American Battle Monuments Commission | National Cemetery Administration | National History Day | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Activity: Operation Invasion: Reaching the Japanese Mainland | Guadalcanal Case Study Packet

Synthesis Question:Tie together all four of the documents to answer the next question. If you had to write a letter home to a loved one what would you say? Would you tell them what life was really like on the Guadalcanal? Would you leave some of it out? In the space below answer this question and write a letter to a loved one.